GamingBolt
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Imperator: Rome's audience is inherently limited, and it's shoddy tutorial and lack of game modes won't attract new players, but if you dig managing ancient empires through a series of menus, you'll probably have a good time.
Despite being painfully generic, Days Gone is an engaging game thanks to its emergent gameplay.
Mortal Kombat 11 features an addictive core gameplay loop and a ton of interesting gameplay modes, but some weird grinding mechanics with the gear system and Towers of Time may put off some players.
Anno 1800 nails its gameplay loop with aplomb while adding plenty of new features to expand it further. From the grand aesthetic to the rich atmosphere and gameplay depth, Blue Byte's latest is a return to form for the franchise.
Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain is a marked improvement over its predecessors in spite being a spin-off by a different developer. Fans of the series will definitely appreciate the additions made to the game while still retaining what made the series so enjoyable. If further installments are able to improve on what Yuke's has done with the series while also fixing some of its issues to bring it up to speed of other modern shooters, it could expand the game's market well beyond its cult following.
Phoenix Wright's courtroom sojourns pack every bit the punch now that they did almost two decades ago. Any opinion to the contrary merits a very loud and emphatic objection.
Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition is more than a blast from the past - it's a compelling game in its own right. Though it serves as more of a base for greater things than a pinnacle for the genre, there's still plenty of shooting, looting and Vault Hunting to be had.
The Caligula Effect: Overdose has a great combat system and an entertaining story, but poor visuals, a lack of meaningful choices, repetitive music, and a lackluster social system means this is a high school reunion you probably want to skip.
For those players looking for a truly hardcore experience, Outward is more than happy to provide but for others, it may just be too much effort for too little payoff.
Yoshi's Crafted World brings together everything that makes the series so amazing to begin with, and expands on it exponentially with new mechanics and design decisions. It's not perfect, but it's a magical adventure in creativity from beginning to end and a textbook example of Nintendo's dedication to pure fun.
The Walking Dead: The Final Season is a moving exploration of grief, loss, choice, and letting go that gives Clementine's story the ending it deserves. Telltale may be gone, but at least they went out with a bang.
Returning to what made fans fall in love with the series, Tropico 6 is an endearing, personality-filled city-builder that lets you think outside of the box. El Presidente has never looked this good, bribes or no.
MLB The Show 19 is both improved in some important spots and disappointingly unimproved in others that really need love. But though it may not be perfect, it's still the best baseball game money can buy and well worth any baseball enthusiast's time.
Generation Zero is the Wonder Bread of video games. It's solid and does what it does well, but it lacks any sort of excitement and will probably expire soon.
This is a brutally unforgiving game that demands constant attention from its players, but it's the kind of attention that I have been all too happy to devote. Thanks to its stellar combat and memorable boss fights, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is a proud reminder of the fact that FromSoftware doesn't require the crutch of an established formula to deliver an arresting experience.
Kirby's Extra Epic Yarn is an all around great experience that can be recommended to newcomers and series veterans alike.
The Division 2 is by far the easiest recommendation at launch this genre has had in many, many years, and is very well positioned to become the definitive looter shooter experience out there.
If you can get past its flaws, Black Desert will reward you with a gorgeous game world and some incredible combat, but poor tutorials, repetitive missions, a messy interface, and the odd set of bugs stop it from being anything more than average.
One Piece: World Seeker could have been so much more that it is. While many of its elements were executed rather well and are still very enjoyable, many others feel uninspired and generic. Hopefully, Bandai Namco and Ganbarion learn from this first attempt at an open-world One Piece game and are able to improve on it in the future, as World Seeker has made it clear that One Piece would work very well as a large-scale open-world game.
Left Alive won't satisfy fans of stealth or of Front Mission. With unengaging gameplay, erratic AI, and a lack of polish across the board, Left Alive won't be remembered in the years to come.